2016 POTUS Debate: Preparation vs. Privilege

After months of anticipation the 1st Presidential Debate happened last night and it was what many of us expected…. a slaughter by Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump is the epitome of “White Male Privilege” and it showed last night. He basically decided to ignore all facts, not take any time to prepare and just “wing it”. In the real world a lot of WM get away with this very same mentality and its frustrating to many women and POC. This idea that you have to be twice as good to get equal recognition is somewhat of a cliche but it often bears out to be true. The debate last night was a classic matchup of preparation vs privilege, Hillary said as much when Trump tried to use her taking time off the campaign trail to prepare for the debate

“You criticize me for preparing for this debate,” Clinton said. “And, yes, I did. Do you know what else I prepared for? I also prepared to be president.”

And she did, Hillary was on the ball last night, answering questions completely without coming off as a “know-it-all” but still showed an expertise and a level of understanding that Trump could not approach. Hillary has had to deal with being judged for things that no politician has been judged on in our past like smiling and attire and she had a great balance of a welcoming demeanor while showing the seriousness and presence of a commander and chief. This presidential race will not be won or loss on the performance of both candidates in this debate but it should give Hillary great momentum leading up to the next debate Oct 9th in St. Louis.

HEMPSTEAD, NY – SEPTEMBER 26: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University on September 26, 2016 in Hempstead, New York. The first of four debates for the 2016 Election, three Presidential and one Vice Presidential, is moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Hillary has a chance now to reach parts of the Obama coalition that she is struggling with especially because the two third party candidates were not on stage and those voting for them could see what a disaster it would be if their vote led to Trump becoming president. I think having a strong third party would be great for this country but how our political system is setup now, a third party could not be elected or get enough representative in the house, senate and local governments to make a difference. On top of that the two candidates we have now are completely unqualified to be POTUS. I think there is a segment of the population that wont change their vote out of protest, but there will be some that come to grips with what their life may be like with a Trump presidency especially POC and millennia’s. Hillary Clinton performed well last night but she has to build on this performance and find a better way to put this email and foundation stuff at bay and get this campaign focused completely on Donald Trumps inadequacies and he polices to help the american people.

Trump started off so promising, he was calm, collected and on topic. He hammered Hillary on trade which is a weakness she has and topic in which she has flip flopped on and recently changed her opinion during the primary with the influence of Bernie Sanders and the progressive left. But, after the first 15-20 mins it went all downhill from there. Trump, who had been hammering Hillary on her stamina, strength and health on the campaign trail was fidgety, sniffling, constantly drinking water and a bit erratic.

His main goal was to come across presidential, a low bar to say the least but he could not clear that. He rambled on answers to questions that were not asked, he continued to lie and stretch the truth even in the face of fact checking from Hillary and moderator Lester Holt. Hillary was able to bait Trump at every turn with simple statements that she knew he would go off the deep end on, and then there was race. Trump continued to push this offensive and ignorant narrative that Stop and Frisk was not only a good policy but an effective one and it was neither. Stop and Frisk was labeled unconstitutional and even before that was pretty easily identified as racist and hated by minorities in New York city and all across the country. He also rambled on and on about Law and Order and how POC are living in “hell” and that our neighborhoods are in disarray.

If we are being honest there is a segment of the population who will completely agree with Trump’s take on race, however those people were already voting for him and it will be hard to get moderates and undecided voters to go along with such a cavalier attitude toward POC. Although a lot of those people may have racist thoughts or premonitions they don’t want to be seen as an open racist or bigot and voting for someone who they may see as perpetrating those ideas would be a turn off.

Lastly he had the opportunity to combat some of the negative ads about his view on woman and gender and he completely fell on his face by trying to justify his words and continue to double down on Hillary’s “look” and “stamina”. He also threatened to bring up Bill Clinton’s infidelities as if that is somehow Hillary’s fault which is peak misogyny and sexism. He did all of this while never going into detail about any of his policies outside of trade and allowing Hillary to steer the conversation to what she wants to talk about. Now Trump surrogates are putting out this idea that Trump may skip the next to debates because they are “unfair”. If Trump decides to skip the next debate this entire campaign will come crumbling down and will really have no way of justifying it to the majority of the electorate and that would be a fitting end to this racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, bigoted campaign.

Just to be clear I do not #FeelTheBern I am not trying "To Make America Great Again", I don't identify with #ImWithHer and for damn sure do not "Trust in Cruz". This election cycle has been like no other, and while I have enjoyed the jokes and absurdity of these candidates at this point I just...